| abstract | - Marie was a beautiful girl. Being from a poor and dysfunctional background, she couldn't afford to have nice things like the other kids in her school. Although this never bothered her, she was frequently bullied. Especially by other girls. You could see the pain in her eyes as they knocked her textbooks from her hands, or spat in her hair on the way home from school. The bullies would purposely go out of their way home to follow her and torment her. They would bash her house calling it a 'shithole' or a dump. It wasn't Marie's fault she couldn't afford a lot. But she was beautiful. So beautiful. Her school announced the news of a winter prom coming up in a few weeks. Whilst all the girls in her class were discussing what they would be wearing, Marie sighed. Obviously she wouldn't have anything to wear. It wasn't until she walked past a thrift store on the way home. It was a cold winter day, snow filled the sidewalks. She had purposely left school earlier and went a longer way so she could avoid the other girls. They would throw snowballs at her, and ambush her putting snow down the back of her shirt. However, she noticed something that caught her eye. She glanced at it, up and down for a few moments before walking into the store. It was a dress. A stunning sight. It was pure White, like the snow just outside. She asked the lady at the counter to reserve it for her until she came back. When she got home, she wondered how she could afford it. Without much thought put into it, she stole money from her mothers purse and sprinted back to the shop to purchase her golden find. When the day of the prom finally arrived she was ecstatic. She'd never owned a garment like that before. The only bad point was that she would be going alone. She was nervous about that. Nobody had asked her. Why would they? It was an embarrassment to be seen with her. But oh my, didn't she look beautiful. She turned up at the dance, coy and embarrassed. After a couple of minutes she got a dance offer from a small, mousy looking boy. He wasn't good enough for her, yet she danced with him anyway. She danced with a lot of boys. But the bullies weren't having it. They wanted to be the best dressed there, but they weren't. Everyone was too busy admiring Marie's dress to care what they had on. So they took matters into their own hands. Accidentally on purpose, they threw a glass of punch over her, ruining her hair, and the dress. Marie ran to the bathroom, overwhelmed with tears. She never returned to the prom. Infact, she never returned anywhere. When the janitor found her she was lying in a pool of her own blood. Her neck had been slit ear to ear. If you asked some people, they would rule it out as suicide. Quite the contrary actually. See the police had their own ideas. They said that the same story had been occurring up and down the country for years, but the culprit had never been found as there was no connections. Each girl would buy a dress. The exact dress that Marie had. See the story was told that a man's wife cheated on him on their wedding day and he killed them in a fit or rage and jealousy. So he had stalked girls, much like Marie for years and planted the dress for them to find, and would attack them while they were wearing it. But with no leads, the case was dropped and completely forgotten about. But they were right. You see, I gave the dress to the shop in hope Marie would discover it and fall in love with it. I had stalked her for weeks, no months. God she looked so beautiful, just like my wife. Although the police may have figured it out, they still haven't caught me yet. By Laura Letford.
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